In The Great War: The First Phase (From the Assassination of the Archduke to the Fall of Antwerp), Frank H. Simonds (1878-1936) went into much more detail about the early battles of World War I than the authors of the books that were earlier reviewed for this blog.
Simonds, who was born in Concord, Massachusetts, had a special background for writing about battles.
"Growing up near two great battlefields of the Revolutionary War, (Simonds) was interested from an early age in military tactics and strategy," read his entry in the 1942 reference book Twentieth Century Authors: A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Literature (edited by Stanley J. Kunitz and Howard Haycraft).
The Great War gives the reader a clear sense of the progress of the different battles on both the eastern and western fronts of the war. Simonds did an excellent job of describing these battles from several different perspectives: their intent, their result, their immediate consequences for both sides, and their larger significance in the war.
The Great War describes how Germany attempted to attack France in August 1914 by sweeping through Belgium in a six-week offensive that later became known as the Schlieffen Plan (a phrase that is not used in this book). Germany's plan was to hit France so hard and fast that it would destroy the French army and allow Germany to focus on Russia on the eastern front.
Unfortunately for Germany, Belgium put up more of a defense than expected, and Russia moved more quickly than expected on the eastern front. So by the time that Germany was deep into France after passing through Belgium, Great Britain had come to France's aid and many German soldiers had to be moved from the western front in France to the eastern front (in Austria, Germany and Russia) to help against Russia.
All of this maneuvering led up to the famous battle of the Marne River, which repulsed the German attack and kept the Germans away from Paris. But then the Germans retreated to a strong defensive position near the Aisne River.
From there, you can see the beginnings of the long western front that settled into place along the French boundaries with Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany from the English Channel to Switzerland. This front would be the scene of much fighting for the next four years.
The descriptions of battles on the eastern front show much of that fighting in what is now Poland. In the late 1700s, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been partitioned into three areas that had been absorbed into Austria, Russia, and the Prussian area of Germany.
When World War I started, the Czar of Russia tried to enlist the help of Polish-speaking people by promising them their own country after the fighting ended. Simonds' writing about the role of Poles in World War I showed how the war was in part an attempt to match ethno-lingual identities with geographical boundaries, especially on the eastern front..
Simonds often enhanced his descriptions of battles by showing how these battles were similar to battles in other wars. He made many references to Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo about 100 years earlier, and to the American Civil War from about 50 years earlier. For example, he compared Napoleon's offensive strategy at Waterloo to the German offensive strategy in the early days of World War I:
Napoleon tackled his problem in precisely the fashion the Kaiser's General Staff subsequently adopted. He launched his whole military force at the Allied armies in Belgium as the Germans did subsequently at France. The supreme test for Napoleon was at Waterloo; for the Germans, at the Battle of the Marne. In both cases the desperate game, the staking of all on a single throw, failed. In Napoleon's case the failure was a rout, the utter destruction of his army. In the German case it was a repulse, followed by a rapid retreat of nearly a hundred miles.The Great War follows the action mostly through the first two months of the war to October 4. But events were moving so fast that Simonds added a postscript about the October 10 fall of Antwerp, Belgium.
Simonds saw the fall of Antwerp as a significant emotional turning point in the war. Belgium had drawn more worldwide sympathy than any other European nation in the war because of its heroic resistance to Germany and because of the atrocities inflicted upon the Belgian people by frustrated German soldiers. The fall of Antwerp meant the complete fall of Belgium. The world needed to understand the seriousness of the war:
Thanks to Belgium, the world is now able to see two things clearly. First, that the necessity to defend the things which all men hold dearest is as modern as the latest invention of the current year. Second, that while all the conditions of war have changed...the spirit of man himself remains unchanged, still unconquerable, still willing to dare all that those things he holds dear may survive even though he must perish.Simonds, who was the editor of The New York Evening Sun, was actively involved in chronicling the history of the war in different print formats. In the preface to The Great War, he explained that most of the contents of the book were first written as editorial articles.
Simonds also reported on the war in the American Review of Reviews magazine. For example, the December 1914 issue included an article by Simonds titled "The War In Its Fourth Month," while the January 1915 issue included an article titled "The Course of the War in December."
The Houston Post praised Simonds' war reporting in its November 29, 1914 edition:
As regards the broad outlines of the war's strategy, from the unsuccessful German advance on Paris in August to the taking of Antwerp and Ostend in October, has there been any better writing anywhere than the articles by Frank H. Simonds in the October and November issues of the Review? This is the highest form of military exposition, phrased in virile, clear cut English that the man in the street can understand.Simonds later wrote a five-volume history of World War I.
The Great War was published around October 24, 1914, when it was advertised in The New York Times. The preface of the book is dated October 10, 1914. Front page headlines in The New York Times on October 24, 1914 included:
- GERMAN ATTACK GAINS SOME GROUND; THE ALLIES ALSO REPORT SUCCESSES; ALTKIRCH TAKEN BY BAYONET CHARGE / ALLIES ADMIT SOME LOSS / Ground Ceded at La Bassee, but Gained Near Armentieres. / ALTKIRCH AGAIN FRENCH
- KAISER PLEDGED TO MONROEISM? / Dr. Dernburg Says Germany Sent Assurances to Bryan Early in August. / PROMISE WAS NOT ASKED / It Said, That Whatever the Effects of the War, Germany Would Respect the Doctrine.
- ARMORED LIGHTERS FOR GERMAN TROOPS/ Said to be Intended for Invasion of England—New Zeppelin Base in Schleswig.
Online versions:
- Hathi Trust Digital Library
- Internet Archive (couldn't find link)
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